There is a still a long way to go, and the fight is not over yet but this illustrates the scale of the challenge. Despite the efforts of the SNP, MPs are simply not holding the government to account. The Bill they have initially approved is a blank cheque with no controls or restraints to rein in the hard Brexit Theresa May is proposing. There is still some time for changes in committee stage but I have very little hope any will be made.

Following this the UK Government published its white paper. It is a mere 70 odd pages long in comparison to the Scottish Government’s White Paper for the Independence Referendum that ran to 670 pages. It contains little of substance, is wildly optimistic and was riddled with errors (many of which have now been fixed). Notably, on p.32 initially it stated that UK citizens were entitled to 14 weeks of paid holiday a year!

“… it is also clear that so far it is only the Scottish Government – not the UK Government – that has made any effort at a compromise or to secure an agreement.” So said the First Minister after the meeting.

Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish Government’s External Affairs Secretary, delivered a well-received and important statement on Scotland in Europe to the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee

Next Tuesday the Scottish Parliament will vote on the Article 50 bill which is proceeding through the House of Commons. Although this is not binding in any way, it is important that the opinion of the Scottish Parliament is formally declared.

The UK Government hopes to ‘adopt’ the existing EU free trade agreements. This is another step in the process but if the aim is to simply to copy and paste existing deals then why leave in the first place?